Fantasy hockey draft strategy: rounds 1-4
Fantasy hockey draft strategy: rounds 1-4
Targets for early stages of standard pools; season preview podcasts
© Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images
NHL.com provides fantasy hockey draft strategy for the first four rounds at each spot in a standard, non-keeper league for the 2024-25 season.
NOTES: Players are listed in order of latest NHL.com top 200 rank, but some may be worth reaching for earlier based on position scarcity, ceiling/floor or other trends. Players who fall to a later pick or round in any situation should be prioritized ahead of the three options listed for any particular pick. These suggestions are for standard snake drafts.
ROUND 1
1. Connor McDavid
2. Nathan MacKinnon or Leon Draisaitl
3. MacKinnon or Draisaitl
4. Nikita Kucherov or Auston Matthews
5. Kucherov or Matthews
6. David Pastrnak
7. Artemi Panarin or Mikko Rantanen
8. Panarin or Rantanen
9. Brady Tkachuk, Sidney Crosby or Cale Makar
10. B. Tkachuk, Crosby or Makar
11. B. Tkachuk, Crosby or Makar
12. J.T. Miller or Kirill Kaprizov
ROUND 2
13. Miller or Kaprizov
14. William Nylander or Matthew Tkachuk
15. W. Nylander or M. Tkachuk
16. Quinn Hughes or Jack Hughes
17. Q. Hughes or J. Hughes
18. Evan Bouchard or Igor Shesterkin
19. Bouchard or Shesterkin
20. Zach Hyman or Sam Reinhart
21. Hyman or Reinhart
22. Roman Josi or Jeremy Swayman
23. Josi or Swayman
24. Filip Forsberg, Chris Kreider or Elias Pettersson
ROUND 3
25. Forsberg, Kreider or Pettersson
26. Forsberg, Kreider or Pettersson
27. Alex Ovechkin, Kyle Connor or Jack Eichel
28. Ovechkin, Connor or Eichel
29. Ovechkin, Connor or Eichel
30. Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel or Victor Hedman
31. Point, Guentzel or Hedman
32. Point, Guentzel or Hedman
33. Juuse Saros, Jake Oettinger or Connor Hellebuyck
34. Saros, Oettinger or Hellebuyck
35. Saros, Oettinger or Hellebuyck
36. Mitch Marner, Sergei Bobrovsky or Adam Fox
ROUND 4
37. Marner, Bobrovsky or Fox
38. Marner, Bobrovsky or Fox
39. Vincent Trocheck, Sebastian Aho or Jason Robertson
40. Trocheck, Aho or J. Robertson
41. Trocheck, Aho or J. Robertson
42. Andrei Vasilevskiy or Rasmus Dahlin
43. Vasilevskiy or Dahlin
44. Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand (INJ.) or Connor Bedard
45. Barkov, Marchand or Bedard
46. Barkov, Marchand or Bedard
47. Thatcher Demko (INJ.), Alexandar Georgiev or Stuart Skinner
48. Demko, Georgiev or Skinner